A redesigned base-pair gene editor developed at the University of Pennsylvania and Rice University cuts unintended 'bystander' DNA mutations by more than 80% while preserving editing activity at the intended target. Published in Molecular Therapy, the work targets a class of mutations common in cystic fibrosis involving clustered cytosine bases -- a pattern found in three-quarters of the mutations this editor type can address. The research is preclinical but represents a meaningful advance in gene-editing precision.

Pet ownership among Americans over 50 remains steady at 57%, but the financial burden has grown sharply since 2018. A University of Michigan national poll of 2,698 adults finds that 31% of pet owners in this age group say their pet strains their budget -- up from 18% seven years ago. The benefits remain real: 83% report a sense of purpose from their pet, and 70% say it connects them to others. But those who stand to gain most may be the least able to afford it.

Laboratory experiments at the University of Exeter's MRC Centre for Medical Mycology show that Cryptococcus neoformans changes its cell density, cell diversity, and capsule size when co-incubated with Mycobacterium tuberculosis - changes known to increase the fungus's ability to harm its host. In immune cell experiments replicating a co-infected lung environment, C. neoformans invaded immune cells more readily in the presence of tuberculosis bacteria. The findings are preliminary and based on in vitro models; mouse model validation is the next step.

University of Birmingham researchers are leading a 20-institution global program to develop the first comprehensive, publicly accessible safety guide for using AI chatbots for health information. Announced in a correspondence in Nature Health, the project addresses the governance vacuum around millions of people already using ChatGPT, Copilot, Claude, and Gemini for symptom interpretation and medical questions. The guide is being co-designed with public partners and a public steering group, with focus on practical harm reduction across age groups and literacy levels.

A study of 4,267 adults from the PROMISE trial found that women carried a median plaque volume of 78 mm3 compared with 156 mm3 in men - yet their rates of death, heart attack, and chest pain hospitalization were similar. Women's cardiac risk began to rise at 20% total plaque burden versus 28% in men, and increased more sharply. Post-menopausal women showed the most pronounced divergence. The American Heart Association-published findings in Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging reinforce calls to develop sex-specific cardiovascular risk assessment tools.

A Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health study analyzed cancer mortality data from 2000 to 2018 for every U.S. county in relation to all operational nuclear power plants, using continuous proximity modeling and controlling for socioeconomic, environmental, and healthcare factors. Counties closer to plants showed higher cancer death rates; the researchers estimated approximately 115,000 attributable deaths over the study period. The association does not establish causality. The study did not include direct radiation measurements. Published in Nature Communications.

Analysis of cardiac CT angiography data from 4,267 adults in the PROMISE trial finds that women's risk of major cardiac events begins at a total plaque burden of approximately 20%, compared with approximately 28% in men. Despite carrying roughly half the plaque volume of men (median 78 mm3 vs. 156 mm3), women experienced similar overall rates of heart attack, death, and hospitalization for chest pain. The risk increase was steeper for women at lower plaque levels, persisted after menopause adjustment, and remained after accounting for high-risk plaque subtypes. Results were published in Circulation.

Radiocarbon dating of dissolved CO2 in Lac Mai Ndombe and Lac Tumba in the Democratic Republic of Congo reveals that up to 40 percent of the carbon being emitted comes from peat thousands of years old - not recently decomposed plant matter as previously assumed. The Congo Basin peatlands store around one-third of all tropical peatland carbon globally, covering 0.3 percent of Earth's land surface. Two parallel studies published in Nature Geoscience and Journal of Geophysical Research also found that lower water levels allow larger methane emissions. How the ancient carbon is mobilized remains unknown.

Scientists from the University of Edinburgh's Wallace Lab have demonstrated that E. coli bacteria fed sugars from waste bread can produce enough biological hydrogen to drive hydrogenation reactions under mild, near-room-temperature conditions in a single sealed flask. Hydrogenation currently depends almost entirely on hydrogen derived from fossil fuels and requires temperatures of several hundred degrees Celsius. Life cycle analysis showed the process can be carbon-negative when waste bread is the feedstock. The study was published in Nature Chemistry.

Climate researchers at the University of Graz have developed a new mathematical method for computing the total extremity of climate hazard events - combining frequency, duration, intensity, and spatial extent into a single metric. Applied to daily maximum temperature records across Europe from 1961 to 2024, the method finds a roughly tenfold increase in the total extremity of extreme heat in Austria and Central and Southern Europe over the current climate period (2010-2024) compared to the 1961-1990 baseline. The study was published in Weather and Climate Extremes.

An analysis of data from University of California-affiliated hospitals covering 371,189 cancer patients diagnosed between 2013 and 2023 found that the 10.6% who developed a mental health disorder within their first year after cancer diagnosis had a 51% higher risk of dying over the following 1 to 3 years, after adjusting for confounders. The elevated risk diminished to 17% at 3 to 5 years and disappeared thereafter. The study, published in CANCER, is observational and cannot establish causality but reinforces calls for early mental health screening in oncology care.

The European Association of Nuclear Medicine has launched the 2026 EANM Young Scientist Network Award, supported by Advanced Accelerator Applications, to fund innovative research in alpha radioligand therapy for prostate cancer. Prize tiers of 40,000 euros (Platinum), 20,000 euros (Gold), and 10,000 euros (Silver) are open to PhD candidates, postdoctoral fellows, and junior clinicians within 10 years of their terminal degree. Applications close May 18, 2026; winners will be announced at the EANM'26 Congress in Vienna in October.

Fossil specimens of ancient marine amphibians collected in the Kimberley region of Western Australia in the 1960s-70s, then lost for roughly 50 years, have been rediscovered and reanalyzed. High-resolution 3D imaging reveals that the collection contains not one but two distinct trematosaurid species - Erythrobatrachus and Aphaneramma - occupying different ecological roles in the same habitat 250 million years ago. Aphaneramma fossils are known from Svalbard, Russia, Pakistan, and Madagascar, confirming rapid trans-oceanic dispersal of early Mesozoic marine vertebrates.

A multinational research team has published a roadmap in Nature Reviews Biodiversity proposing a unified Biodiversity Observation Network for Europe built around 84 Essential Biodiversity Variables. The plan calls for a new EU-level coordination centre, standardized data pipelines integrating eDNA, acoustic sensors, satellite imagery and citizen science, and alignment with the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030. The European Parliament has already approved a preparatory action to begin implementation.

Researchers at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman have identified three novel antimicrobial peptides from dromedary camels - CdPG-3, CdCATH, and a third candidate - that show antibacterial activity against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and multidrug-resistant E. coli in laboratory assays. Unlike conventional antibiotics, these peptides target bacterial membranes broadly, a mechanism that reduces the risk of resistance via target mutations. The study, published in Frontiers in Immunology, is exploratory lab work; no animal or clinical data are yet available.

A University of Louvain study finds that the ion channel TRPV4 in sensory neurons does not simply trigger itch - it generates a negative feedback signal that tells the nervous system when scratching has been sufficient. Mice genetically lacking neuronal TRPV4 scratched less often but in longer bouts during a chronic itch model resembling atopic dermatitis, suggesting the channel acts as a brake on scratching behavior rather than an accelerator. The finding has implications for drug development targeting TRPV4 in eczema and related conditions.

TMC1 and TMC2, the proteins that convert sound vibrations into electrical signals in the inner ear, have a second function: they shuffle phospholipids across cell membranes. NIH researchers at NIDCD have found that when this scramblase function malfunctions - due to genetic mutations or ototoxic antibiotics - it triggers hair cell death through a membrane collapse pathway. Since hair cells do not regenerate, the findings could reshape strategies for preventing permanent hearing loss.

Researchers at India's National Institute of Science Education and Research have identified a lipid-based biophysical mechanism by which tuberculosis bacteria evade immune destruction. Mycobacterial extracellular vesicles carry specialized lipids that stiffen the phagosome membrane inside immune cells, blocking the fusion with lysosomes that would normally kill the bacteria. Similar vesicle effects were observed in Klebsiella pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus, suggesting the strategy may be widespread among pathogens.

A Harvard University team has developed multicolor electron microscopy, a technique that uses a single electron beam to simultaneously capture the detailed structural architecture of cells and the locations of specific proteins in color - at nanometer resolution. The approach exploits cathodoluminescence from standard fluorescent dyes and has been demonstrated in mammalian cells and biological tissues including fungus-infected flies. Current results are two-dimensional; 3D cryo-electron microscopy integration is the next target.

Researchers at the University of Copenhagen have measured approximately one million lipid nanoparticles individually and found two distinct subpopulations - organized and amorphous. The surprising finding: disorganized particles outperform tightly packed ones at releasing RNA inside cells. Only 1 to 5 percent of LNP cargo currently reaches its target, and this structural insight could reshape how RNA drug-delivery vehicles are designed.

An open-source, low-cost microscope called FlightScope has successfully imaged yeast cells taking up fluorescently labeled glucose during zero-gravity conditions on a European Space Agency parabolic flight. Built by Newcastle University's Adam Wollman and team, the instrument aims to democratize microgravity cell biology research - an area typically limited to expensive equipment aboard the International Space Station.

A University of California, Berkeley researcher has built the first detailed biophysical model of the glycolytic pathway, using 172 parameters drawn from decades of in vitro kinetic data. The model reveals that allosteric regulation by ATP, ADP, and inorganic phosphate is essential for preventing toxic accumulation of metabolic intermediates - findings that earned Denis V. Titov the 2025 Biophysical Journal Paper of the Year Award.

Duke University researchers used cryo-electron microscopy to capture multiple structural snapshots of TRPM8 - the ion channel that signals cold sensation and responds to menthol - as it transitions between closed and open states. Cold primarily triggers changes in the channel's pore region, while menthol binds a separate site and induces shape changes that propagate to the pore. The two stimuli enhance each other synergistically, and a newly identified 'cold spot' prevents the channel from desensitizing during prolonged cold exposure.

Researchers at Tokyo Metropolitan University synthesized a neutral molecule - a polyethylene glycol strand tipped with a thymine DNA base - that binds plasmid DNA through a thermal annealing process without requiring a positive charge. In mouse experiments, their single nucleobase-terminal complex boosted cellular DNA uptake by up to 14 times compared to naked DNA, while avoiding the inflammation triggered by conventional cationic polymers.

A Brown University study published in Imaging Neuroscience found that people with OCD performed a sequential cognitive task as accurately as controls but showed greater activity across more brain regions, including the middle temporal gyrus and areas of the occipital cortex not previously associated with OCD. Researchers suggest these regions may represent new targets for transcranial magnetic stimulation therapy, which currently improves symptoms in roughly 30-40% of OCD patients.